ASU Prep senior Nathan Starr places 11th at Junior Olympics
ASU Prep student competes at Junior Olympics
From starting track in eighth grade to placing 11th nationally, senior Nathan Starr uses flexible learning schedules to train at an elite level. FOX 10's Irene Snyder reports.
A high school senior is making a name for himself in the running world and taking college classes at ASU at the same time.
The backstory:
Running is a way of life for high school senior Nathan Starr.
"I started running in 8th grade. I got introduced to it by my friend. He wanted to do it with me. I was like, might as well. So, I tried to push myself to get up to him because he was one of the best at the time in our school, and then I caught up to him," Starr said.
Then for the next five years, he spent day after day training and working himself up to this point, with the help of his coach.
"He made it so much fun, so enjoyable. I didn't even realize that I was actually putting in the work. I thought I was just having fun and hanging out with friends. It made it more enjoyable and that's where I found my love for it," Starr said. "I just wanted to see what could happen before I could barely even run a half mile without stopping."
Dig deeper:
He recently competed in the Junior Olympics in California, where he came in 11th place overall.
Starr is also an ASU Prep Polytechnic STEM student, which gives him the opportunity to take ASU college classes and take advantage of the ASU Family Choice Day.
"ASU Prep offers a thing where you can pick from going in the school or out of school. I choose to go out of school so I can work from home, do all my school work from home, and then have more time to run and train. It's helped a lot. Where I can actually just relax and be able to do my work, but then also be able to run and have a lot of free time. Some days it could be 30-minute runs, some days it could be an hour and a half, it depends on what it is. Some days I have weight training, some days I don't. I spend a majority of my time, my free time, weight lifting, running, whatnot. I have to balance that with also school work," he said.
What's next:
Preparing for a collegiate athletic career and his academic career all at the same time, one thing is for sure: Nathan is a star in the making.
"It was so much fun. I couldn't imagine anything better. All the competition, people from out of state, meeting new people, having a bunch of connections. Yeah, it was really fun," Starr said.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from Nathan Starr, high school senior and ASU Prep Polytechnic STEM student; Andrew, track coach; ASU Prep Polytechnic STEM; Arizona State University; and Irene Snyder.